Phil McConkey
Played 6 years in the NFL as a WR, punt returner and kick returner for the Giants, Packers, Cardinals and Chargers. Played college football at the Naval Academy and served in the U.S. Navy before joining the NFL. Best remembered for his oustanding game in Super Bowl XXI.

Black Monday 2012

It's basically cut-down day for NFL front offices. Today, I will keep updating this page with links to the latest firing news throughout this depressing day.

-First is the New York Jets, who fired GM Mike Tannenbaum. The news is not much of surprise, but the current decision to keep Rex Ryan is getting mixed reviews. The Jets have had difficulty rebuilding their defensive line and their offense had no depth at wide receiver before injuries wiped out a good portion of players from camp.

-The Philadelphia Eagles were next. Another disappointing year for a talented team may lead to the dismissal of Andy Reid. It may not be official yet, but all signs point to the end of 14 years as Eagles coach. He won 7 division titles in his time. UPDATE: Eight minutes after this post.....Reid fired.

-Gene Smith is out in Jacksonville. Reports on Sunday had the head coach in limbo as well. The Jags have what many consider the least-talented roster in the league. There are developing players in each side of the ball, but not enough to make up for 7 wins in two seasons.

-Romeo Crennel will take his 28-55 career record to the unemployment line , ending a season of bad play and heart-breaking news. The surprise so far is that Scott Pioli is supposed to keep his position. Perhaps all that spy equipment he put up in the offices has paid off.

-The Browns are starting over again. Early reports are stating Cleveland interest in names such as Bruce Arians, Jon Gruden and Chip Kelly.

-The Norv Turner Show has been cancelled. GM A.J. Smith is supposed to be out as well. The Chargers, once one of the most talented in the league, have seen talent leave or retire with no real replacements coming forward. In six years as Chargers coach, his high water mark was a 13-3 season in 2009. Since then, the team fell to nine wins in 2010 and then lost another win each season after that.

-UPDATE: 10:47am- Ian Rappaport of the NFLN has tweeted that Lovie Smith is out in Chicago. Adam Shefter tweeted that Bears have asked to speak with coaches. News happened during the Jay Cutler Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. That made for some great radio.

-UPDATE: 1:19pm- The meeting with Ken Whisenhunt went long in Arizona. Rod Graves is the one who is out. Graves had been with the team since 1997 and been GM since 2002. Whoops. Reports now say that Whisenhunt is out as well.

What a bloody day. I can't remember one so big. Rivera is still up in the air until a GM is named.

Part of this might be that there were no coaches fired mid-season this year. You wonder, also, if a couple guys who escaped last year because of the lockout or because of injuries got canned this year.

It might also be that teams who aren't typically firing coaches are letting guys go this year. San Diego, Philadelphia, Chicago.

Don't know how I feel about the Lovie firing. Better than half the HCs out there, and it's not like they had a losing season. We'd be fine if Emery just hired another OC. They've asked to interview Mike McCoy, but he doesn't have any previous head coaching experience. Making Orton and Tebow look good is a pretty difficult task though. I'm hoping for Bill O'Brien.

Don't know how I feel about the Lovie firing. Better than half the HCs out there, and it's not like they had a losing season. We'd be fine if Emery just hired another OC. They've asked to interview Mike McCoy, but he doesn't have any previous head coaching experience. Making Orton and Tebow look good is a pretty difficult task though. I'm hoping for Bill O'Brien.

Heard some rumblings that perhaps the Bengals beef up their front office this offseason, and maybe add a general manager position.
Owner Mike Brown did expand his scouting staff, finally, a year ago. Worth keeping an eye on.

I hate when the GM isn't the CEO, unless the CEO is just business issues.

The power structure seems really up in the air at this point. I'm not exactly quoting Banner, but I'm coming very close in saying that he said that the role and title of the general manager would be determined by the particular skills of the coach they hire. It sounds very much like they're looking for a coach who will be the dominant force behind personnel decisions. I don't know who that is. Banner's official title is CEO, and I've always thought he was running the business side of the operation. If the coach is also the primary talent evaluator--apart from the scouting staff, and Banner and Haslam also said that they would be retaining the previous regime's talent evaluation department--that leaves the GM/pro personnel guy to manage the salary cap. I don't have any inside information and I'm not endorsing this plan, this is just what it sounds like they're shooting for. They must have someone in mind and they're just not saying who it is. If that guy doesn't come to Cleveland, maybe they'll change the organizational structure to something a bit more orthodox.

IIRC, the assist GM or head of personnel or something in NE went to be the GM in ATL and has done well.

Yes, New England's personnel structure has never been publicly analyzed, from what I've seen. Maybe I missed it. But while Scott Pioli was getting a lot of credit in Foxboro, it's his supposed underling Thomas Dimitroff who has excelled on a new team. Which makes me believe that Belichick is the moneymaker there.

Falcons assistant coaches are lining up for interviews. Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan have done a superb job. Truly they've been the difference this season. If they leave, it will really hurt the Falcons.